Indonesia upbeat on economic growth despite virus threat

An Indonesian medical team conducting drive-through swab tests for the coronavirus in Tangerang on Monday (April 6). Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati is optimistic that his country's economic growth will still grow in the positive zone although it is slowing down amid the outbreak. - AFP

JAKARTA: Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati is optimistic that his country's economic growth will still grow in the positive zone although it is slowing down amid the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

"Three countries that will still survive or are in the positive zone are Indonesia, China and India," she said during a working meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission XI here on Monday (April 6).

The growth is in accordance with the projections of international financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in April 2020 which said that Indonesia's economic growth this year reached by 2.5 percent, the minister was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

The World Bank projects Indonesia's economic growth to range from negative 3.5% to 2.1%.

Meanwhile, Moody's rating agency projects that Indonesia's economic growth will reach 3% this year and will again increase in 2021 by 4.3%.

With this projection, Indonesia's economic growth is still better than those of several big countries in the region. - Xinhua/Asian News Network